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Plumbing practitioner penalised for defective workmanship

A plumbing practitioner has been penalised and ordered to pay more than $10,000 after 17 instances of defective workmanship were found at a property in Northcote.

At a Victorian Building Authority (VBA) Plumbing Inquiry in May, three allegations made against Garratt McDonald were proven.

Mr McDonald was found to have contravened the Building Act 1993, by permitting a person to carry out roofing, drainage and installation of a rainwater tank on his behalf, where the work did not comply with the Act or Regulations and relevant installation codes for metal roofing.

Defective workmanship included roof sheets installed without adequate grade, undersized overflow provision installed on the rainhead and the box gutter not installed with minimum fall.

Mr McDonald breached requirements in respect of compliance certificates, by certifying work that did not comply and failed to lodge a compliance certificate with the VBA within five days of the completion of work.

VBA Executive Director Regulatory Operations, David Brockman, said the VBA is committed to holding practitioners to account for defective plumbing work.

“We expect plumbers to know the proper processes and adhere to them.,” Mr Brockman said.

“A penalty of more than $9,000 was issued to Mr McDonald for his offences and he has been ordered to pay more than $3,000 to the impacted homeowner, in addition to costs of the disciplinary Inquiry.”

Mr McDonald is also required to complete two professional development courses, Access and interpret regulatory requirements for the plumbing and services industry and Design and size roof drainage systems, within 18 months.